Elemental Redux
by Myra the Sark
Summary: A rewrite of "Elemental: Guardians". When Core-Tech is rescued from the desert by a group who call themselves the Elementals, it seems they've found some trustworthy allies at last. But their enigmatic leader and her subordinates are more than they appear to be. Who are they exactly? And how do they know about the Prophecy of the Five?
1. Prologue: Found 発見

A lone vehicle that hovered slightly over the sands sped across the expanse of the Alto Desert. Three people rode within it, one driving while the other two scanned the surroundings.

One was a young man with red hair and blue eyes by the name of Roy Stoker. Another was a girl who looked about fifteen with mouse-brown hair and green eyes named Irera, who was driving. The last had the oddest appearance: she had ice-blue hair and crystal-blue eyes, and slightly-pointed ears as well as curved nails and elongated canine teeth. Along with peering through binoculars, her nose often twitched, as if she was trying to catch a scent. Her name was Cyril.

All three of them wore loose-fitting light-purple outfits and black combat-style boots, and each wore a scarf—Roy's was bright-blue with a silver symbol of sorts on an embroidered patch. Similar to Cyril's—except hers had a gold marking. Irera wore a white scarf with a silver symbol, like Roy. An in an iridescent shade of purple behind the symbols was an emblem of a wolf with feathered wings spread wide.

"I'm not seeing anything," Roy said, looking around through his binoculars.

"There's some people around here somewhere," Cyril said. Her voice held a trace of an accent of sorts. "I can smell it."

Roy muttered something under his breath—he knew better than to argue with his captain—or any of them. Cyril especially—she held the title of the Elemental Ice Empress, after all. Thankfully she only showed that side when she was angry.

Then Cyril went stiff, and exclaimed, "Irera, over there!" while pointing.

In response the girl turned the _anvar_ towards where five figures were lying unconscious. All were teenagers. Cyril immediately checked their pulses. "They're alive, but barely," she said. "Heat exhaustion—we need to get them to base ASAP."

* * *

Everything was one giant blur when Chase woke up. First thing that he was aware of was that his throat felt like sandpaper. Second thing was…well, he didn't know where he was.

He sat up slowly, immediately noticing the glass of water off to the side on a table—he downed it in ten seconds.

Now that his throat didn't feel like it was on fire anymore, he looked around. He appeared to be in an infirmary—white walls, beds, the standard. His friends were also in the room, still unconscious.

"Guys?" he asked nervously.

To his relief, Jinja sat up, blinking. She copied what Chase's first action had been—all of them had cups of water by them—and then glared at him. "Chase Suno, I _told_ you cutting through the Alto Desert at this time of year was dangerous!" she scolded. Chase put his hands up in self-defense, even as Jinja stood and ran over to Beyal, and started shaking him. "Beyal! Are you okay?"

He blinked his eyes open. "I am fine," he said raspily, immediately downing his water as well. "Where are we?"

"That's what I wanna know," they heard Dax ask—he had woke up without them noticing.

"Then I'll tell you," an unfamiliar voice said. They looked to see a young man who looked either eighteen or nineteen with black hair, violet eyes, wearing a dark-purple suit with black boots and a purple scarf with a strange gold symbol, and an iridescent lavender emblem of a wolf with feathered wings beneath it.

"What's going on?" Bren groggily asked, sitting up. The black-haired man reached and put the brown-haired teen's glasses on his face for him. Bren blinked before yelping loudly.

"Who are you?" Chase asked.

The man blinked, and said, "Forgive my manners. For now, you can call me Darkshade."

_That's a weird name,_ the Core-Tech leader thought. "Right, so where the krag are we?" Dax asked.

"You're in the 6th Division office, AKA the medical bay," Darkshade replied.

"Sixth division of _what_?" Bren asked.

Darkshade's eyes gleamed. "We're known as the Elementals," he said. Chase then noticed that his ears had a slight point to them, and his nails were oddly curved. It also looked like he had slight fangs poking out of his mouth.

"So…what do you guys do?" Jinja asked in a weird tone. Chase felt an eye twitch—he didn't like it for some reason. He saw Dax's eyes narrow as well.

"Well…we do a lot of things. You'll be briefed on it tomorrow morning, if not a little later."

Something about the way he said that unnerved Chase quite a bit. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Darkshade turned all serious then. "I noticed all five of you have cores. "They went stiff. "Don't worry, we're allies. I have to let you all know: our Captain-Commander has a strict policy…"

"Like?"

"Anyone who we rescue from the desert who is a controller must stay with us as _secvaraī_."

* * *

Cyril waited for the Captain-Commander's response. Finally the 1st Division captain said, "They're alright, right?"

"Yes."

"Good." The leader of the Elementals chuckled, smiling. "I've always wanted to see what my son looked like all grown up."

* * *

**Yep, re-writing it. Takes place in season-2 now! Note: "Irera" is pronounced like Irene, but replace the -ne with a -ra. ~Myra**


	2. Chapter I: Elemental エレメンタル

Chase's response was expected: "_What?!_"

Darkshade tilted his head slightly to one side. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"_Wrong_?" Jinja repeated. "We can't stay here! We—"

"—have no supplies suited for travel in the Alto Desert," the black-haired man said stiffly. "How long would you last in miles of desert with no water?"

No one in Core-Tech replied—they were stuck. Taking their silence as an answer, Darkshade went on. "Besides, we're trying to keep our existence secret. You'll get your cores back after you're assigned to your divisions. Now, follow me."

They did as such. To say that Chase _severely disliked _this turn of events was an understatement. As they were going outside, he angrily thought, _Who do these guys think they are? Telling us we can't leave…_

Before he could continue his mental rant, however, he took note of their surroundings as they reached a ledge with a railing—they were on an elevated plateau of sorts, which had the "6th Division Station" on it with six other similar buildings, all painted silvery-purple with differently-colored number-signs.

Chase had been incorrect in thinking they were outside. They were actually inside of a gigantic cavern, and what he thought had been the sky was actually the distant ceiling—which was covered in crystals that glowed red, orange, yellow, and violet, as well as a few pale silvery-white ones—a perfect imitation of a sunset. Heck, some crystals were even bright gold—to mimic the sun!

Sprawling _beneath_ the ledge, on the other hand…was an entire _city_. It seemed to be divided into two main parts—one, the smaller sector, looked like a marketplace. The other seemed like the actual _city_ part: Chase could see what looked like a park, plenty of houses, and two buildings located relatively close to each other which were probably a school and a library.

"Impressed, aren't you?" Darkshade said with a smirk.

"Sorta," Chase admitted.

Then someone called, "Darkshade!" They looked to see a girl who looked either sixteen or seventeen, with pale dirty-blond hair and stormy-gray eyes wearing a light-purple outfit that had yellow highlights running towards them. She had the same style of boots as Darkshade—although hers had a yellow trim—as well as the same…physical oddities. "The Captain-Commander's called an emergency meeting," she said. "We have to—huh?" She looked the five teens over, and smiled. "_Secvaraī_, huh?"

"Yes," Darkshade said. "They're the newbies." Turning to the five, he said, "This here is Captain Featherbreeze of the 5th Division, as well as Head of the Recreational Department."

"Nice to meet you," Featherbreeze said with a smile. Chase saw that she had a scarf as well—yellow with a dark-gold symbol matching Darkshade's and that same purple symbol beneath it. Was that the insignia of the Elementals—a winged wolf?

Darkshade's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Do you see that building up there?" They looked—there was a one-story building off to the side of the others. "That's where you'll be staying tonight. Be sure to state your full names."

* * *

"This stinks," Bren said for the seventh time.

"We get it," Jinja said. "Can you just drop it already?"

They'd been crammed into one room with five beds, as the Elementals didn't often have new _secvaraī_ or whatever.

"All is not lost," Beyal said. "Perhaps we have finally discovered trustworthy allies."

"Yeah. We'll see about that," Chase said, glancing at him before looking outside. To their surprise, the crystals covering the cavern ceiling far above had actually _changed color_; darkening to midnight-blue, some turning silver-white in specks and a bunch in a cluster—an imitation of the night sky.

The receptionist of the _uquírak _(as the building was called) had said that the crystals were called _kuweì_, and were supposed to change color like that.

The ongoing conversations were all in order to keep the apprehension at bay…as the receptionist had also told them it was likely they'd en up in different divisions.

* * *

A sharp knock on the door was what woke all of them up the next morning.

Chase groggily sat up and opened the door—it was the _uquírak_'s receptionist, who was holding five bags with name tags on them.

A few minutes later, they were all wide-awake, staring at their own bags. "Well…" Chase finally said. "Who first?"

Dax immediately dumped the contents of his bag onto the floor. Consisted of an outfit very similar to what Darkshade had been wearing, except the purple was lighter, and had a flame-red scarf that had a metallic-bronze symbol on it, the seal of the Elementals beneath it. There was also a handwritten note. Dax looked it over, and then flipped it so they could see. Apparently he'd been put in the 4th Division, which was led by "Moeru," and the lieutenant was a guy named Ashtail. Although why he was called that, Chase would never be able to guess.

All Beyal had to do was take the scarf out of his bag—it matched Darkshade's, except the symbol on his was the same bronze. 6th Division.

Jinja had apparently been placed in the 7th Division, led by some guy named Wavewhisker. The scarf was sea-blue.

Bren was put in the 3rd Division, led by Saurian—he got an emerald-green scarf.

Taking a deep breath, Chase took the note out of his bag, reading it over. Finally he said, "2nd Division, led by Cyril," in a surprisingly-even tone.

A few moments of silence. Then Bren shouted, "They split us up!"

"That's what the lady told us would probably happen," Jinja said, obviously just as unhappy.

Chase sighed. "Come on. The notes all says we have to show up in uniform."

* * *

"So…we'll meet up later if we can?" Chase suggested.

The others nodded, and with that, they split up. Dax was a little surprised that Moeru was waiting for him.

He was of average height with reddish-white hair and weird vermillion eyes. His outfit was like Darkshade's, but with red highlights. Like Darkshade and Featherbreeze, he had the pointed ears, fangs, and claws. "So you're the new guy?" he asked.

"What of it?"

Moeru raised an eyebrow. "You're a little fireball, aren't ya? You will address me as Captain, Captain Moeru, or even just Cap-Moe. Got it, Martinez?"

Dax flinched a little. "Fine," he muttered. At least it wasn't some stuck-up guy.

* * *

Darkshade was waiting for him, along with the person Beyal figured was the lieutenant, Lilinette. She had dark-russet hair and amber eyes.

"So you were put into this division, huh?" Darkshade asked. He seemed more relaxed than the night before, which Beyal found reassuring.

"Yes sir," the white-haired teen replied politely.

"Good use of manners. I apologize for asking this out of the blue, but—would you, by any chance, know any herbs with medicinal uses that are found in Mandala?"

Beyal was startled by the question, but he didn't show it. "Yes. I am from Mandala, actually."

"Really?" Lilinette asked. "Where in Mandala?" She paused. "On second thought, you don't need to answer that."

Something told Beyal he could trust them. "I am from the Library of Tebab," he replied.

Darkshade's violet eyes widened. "Tebab, eh?" Quieter, he muttered, "Saurian's gonna be interested to hear that." Beyal didn't know what he meant. "Well, in any case, welcome to the 6th Division, Beyal. And if you could follow me, please…"

* * *

If anything, Jinja had _not _expected Wavewhisker to be a _twelve-year-old_. He was wearing an outfit like Darkshade's, with sea-blue highlights. He had sea-green eyes, as well as the weird physical traits the other two captains had.

"Don't let my age fool ya," he said. "The Captain-Commander put me in charge for a reason, Miss Blackwell." It sounded _so_ weird hearing a kid younger than her speaking like that.

There were only two other people in the division—a boy and a girl who were definitely siblings, looking close to her age, thankfully.

The boy whispered something to his sister, who grinned before saying, "Captain, you forgot to go get the fish yesterday!"

Wavewhisker went stiff, and looked into what looked like a small fridge. "By Amaries…uh, Miyu?"

"Yes?" the boy asked.

"You handle the explanations." He ran out, yelling "To the market!" dramatically. **(Cue anime-style sweatdrop)**

"Yeah, the captain's a bit of a goofy oddball," the boy—Miyu, apparently—said. "Jinja, right?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"I'm Miya," the girl cut in, waving. "You have _no idea_ how annoying it was being the only girl here!"

"Trust me, I know," Jinja replied, grinning. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad after all.

* * *

Bren had quickly discovered that he had quite a bit of good luck on getting into the 3rd Division.

Namely because they were also the R&D department. "I take it technology is your talent, correct?" Saurian asked, smirking at seeing Bren's expression.

"You bet it is!" the brown-haired teen replied.

The Captain's smile widened. "I knew I was right in picking you. And I believe this here is yours." He handed Bren the Core-Tablet. "I have something else for you as well."

Puzzled, Bren followed the 3rd Division Captain to another room. Saurian took something from a case, and handed it to Bren.

To say the geek was stunned was an understatement. It was a violet-colored _core_, with the emblem of the Elementals on one end.

* * *

"You guys have your own Monsunos?" Chase asked, completely shocked.

"Yes, we do," Cyril responded. "We've had our own for longer than you'd think."

Cue confusion. "What do you—?"

"Your father is Jeredy Suno, correct?"

"Well…yeah…"

"Shocking as this may be to you, he actually wasn't the one who discovered the Monsuno Essence. Saurian did. Your father simply gave the name…after about a million epic-fails by the _kōetés_." The last part was muttered.

Chase didn't hear it, however. _So…dad _wasn't_ the one who discovered the Monsunos…?_

* * *

The day seemed to go on forever. When all the work was finally done, they met up in the small garden by the Division Stations.

"It's official. I _hate_ paperwork," Jinja said.

"You and me both, Jin," Chase put in. "One other thing: Cyril told me that it was _Saurian _who discovered the Monsunos!"

"Yeah, that's what he told me too!" Bren exclaimed. The geek paused. "_And_ I got this!" He held up a purple core.

The others stared. "Figures," Jinja said finally, also showing that she had one.

"Captain Darkshade gave me one as well," Beyal said.

"Lucky," Dax muttered. "I didn't get anything."

"Me either," Chase said. "I didn't even get any of my cores back."

"I didn't get my other three back yet either," Jinja said. "Wavewhisker said we'd get them tomorrow. Did I mention he's a _twelve-year-old_?"

"We better," Dax muttered in response to the first part. Then: "Wait, what?"

"Bren?" Chase asked. "Did you get the Core-Tablet back?"

"Yeah, it's right here."

"I need to let my dad know where we are."

"Right." Bren handed it to him, and Chase sent the call out.

Jeredy picked up quickly. "Chase? Where are you?"

"…somewhere in the Alto Desert," he replied, and started to explain.

When he finished, Jeredy looked shocked. "So, this 'Elemental' faction has had Monsunos for…more than a decade?"

"That's basically it."

Jeredy shook his head, looking astonished. "I want to see one of these Elemental cores myself. Can you come out to Hargeon tomorrow?"

"Uh…I'm not sure. I'll have to ask—"

"Chase, who are you talking to?" It was Cyril.

"C-Cyril! I'm just—talking to my dad…"

The 2nd Division captain came closer to see. "So you are," she said. "If I heard correctly, you five want to go out to Hargeon tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"Normally we don't let new _secvaraī_ out, but I suppose I can file this as an exception. Actually, Darkshade is taking Lieutenant Irera of the 1st Division out there to ensure our water supply is restocked, so I could have at least two of you go with him."

"Thanks!" Chase said sincerely.

She smiled. "It's nothing." To Jeredy, she said, "I'm terribly sorry for interrupting like that."

"It's alright," the scientist replied.

"If you wouldn't mind, could I have a private word with you? It's about curfew, anyhow." The last part was directed at the five of Core-Tech.

"Uh, right," Chase said. "See you tomorrow, dad."

* * *

As soon as Cyril was sure the five teens were out of earshot, she sighed and said, "I hope you realize how large of a mess you've created, Jeredy."

"I'm aware." The gray-eyed scientist sounded a bit sheepish there.

"I'll tell you now. I feel it'd be safer for you if you relocated to our base here in the Alto Desert."

"Where is your base, exactly…?"

She smiled a little. "You know the large mountain in the desert's center? It's hollow."

"You're in there," he exclaimed in response. "That's why no one's been able to find you!"

"Precisely."

A pause. "I guess I could move base…there's one problem, though."

"Like what?"

"I don't know how I'll be able to move Jon here…" He moved a bit to the side, allowing Cyril to see.

Her crystal-blue eyes widened. "_Oh_. Well, now that _is_ a problem."


	3. Chapter II: First Mission 最初の使命

**To those who read the previous "Elemental: Guardians", I changed the name of Beyal's new Monsuno. ~Myra  
**

* * *

Chase knew it'd be a while before he got accustomed to sleeping in a bed. After he was dressed, he walked out of his room, only to feel someone smack him in the back of the head. Namely, Cyril.

"What the krag was that for?!" he asked, irritated.

"A member of the 2nd Division must always be prepared," she recited. "I take it you want to be one to head out to Hargeon?"

_Oh yeah, I forgot._ "Yeah, definitely," he said.

She nodded. "Go get your breakfast, then. And meet Captain Darkshade outside of the 6th Station afterwards, alright?"

* * *

The Elementals certainly did have good food. "So you're the new guy?" a red-haired man with blue eyes asked. Chase knew to be respectful—the guy was wearing an ice-blue scarf with a silver symbol on it.

"Yeah. You're…Roy, right?"

"Yep, Roy Stoker." He held up two cores. "These here are my big-guns." One was an Elemental core. The other…was a STORM core. Roy noticed Chase's expression. "Something wrong with Seafox?"

"H-How did you get it?"

"How did I get her? Well, I _used_ to be a STORM Elite…and then my squad ditched me in the middle of the desert—not surprised, since Commander Sayre was leading it." The name was unfamiliar to Chase. "Lucky for me, Cyril was on a flight…"

"A flight…?"

Roy gave him a weird look. Then: "Right, you wouldn't know yet…"

"Know what?" Now Chase was confused.

"How should I put this…? Well, not everyone in the Elementals is…human, so to speak."

"Uh…what do you mean?"

"Well, you know how the captains look weird?"

"Yeah." Now that Chase thought about it, he'd seen a few other people come up with the same pointed ears, claws, and fangs as the six captains he'd seen—he hadn't seen the 1st Division's captain yet, although he assumed it was the Captain-Commander, whoever he was. Added to this, the 5th Division lieutenant (a woman by the name of Roseflight, who had _pink_ hair and leaf-green eyes) also had the same odd appearance, as did Ashtail of the 4th Division. "Then, what are they?"

"They're wolves. _Very special_ wolves."

* * *

It took Beyal a few moments to process what he heard. His division's lieutenant had just returned Glowblade, Arachnablade, and Mysticblade to him, then he had asked how she had joined the Elementals (she had been here since the day she was born, and her parents had stumbled upon the base), and she had told him that the captains were _wolves_. The _Elemental Guardians_.

"I know how you're probably feeling," Lilinette said. "I know I was shocked."

"But…how?" Beyal asked.

Lilinette shrugged. "Captain Darkshade won't really say. Now…aren't you going on the trip to Hargeon?"

"Yes, I am."

"Captain Darkshade's waiting outside."

* * *

When Chase got outside, he saw Bren, Jinja, and Dax all talking about something. Bren noticed him, and shouted, "Chase! You aren't gonna believe what we—"

"There are wolves among us?"

"Yeah…exactly," Jinja said, looking a bit startled.

"Roy told me," Chase said. "He used to be in STORM, if you can believe it."

"Can we trust him, then?" Dax asked, looking suspicious.

"Well, since they ditched him in the desert, I think so."

Darkshade interrupted. "Chase, are you coming or not?"

"Coming!" To the others, he said, "We'll talk later—5th Division Training Hall, alright?"

"Right," they replied.

* * *

The _anvar_ sped across the desert's sands. _Anvars_ were the vehicles used by the Elementals for transportation—it looked like a jeep, but it hovered slightly. There was a single seat in the front for the driver, with a windshield specially designed for keeping the driver's eyes safe from the sun and sand, while there was a compartment in the back for passengers, which had a retractable roof with pull-down walls—Chase didn't really understand how it worked.

"Have either of you ever been to Hargeon?" Darkshade asked.

Chase was about to reply negatively…when a voice said, "I know I haven't."

"Wha'—Wavewhisker!" Darkshade exclaimed. "You aren't supposed to be here!"

"Well, I'm here now."

The 6th Division Captain groaned and facepalmed. Beyal then asked, "So, you are both Elemental Guardians?" in a quiet tone.

The two captains looked at him. "We are," Darkshade finally said. "I'm the seventh, and Wavewhisker is the eighth."

"Wait," Chase said, confused. "Then…how come you're the _6th_ Division Captain?"

"It's because Snowwing's not a captain," Wavewhisker replied, sitting in a cross-legged position. "She's got kids to take care of."

"That explains it." A pause. "So…what do you guys _really _look like?"

"I'll show you," Wavewhisker said, and there was a flash of blue-green light—and suddenly Chase and Beyal found themselves looking at a wolf with sea-blue fur, sea-green eyes, and strange markings to match. "Cool, right?" the wolf—Wavewhisker—asked.

"Uh" was Chase's response. Namely because he saw that Wavewhisker had wings. _So that's what Roy meant…Cyril was literally on a flight when she found him!_

"Captain Wavewhisker, we're almost at Hargeon," Irera said stiffly.

The 7th Division Captain went rigid, and returned to him human form. Then they entered the city.

* * *

Hargeon was a surprisingly-modern port town despite being on the isolated coastline of the Alto Desert and miles from any other major town. This was only because of its railway, which ran underneath the desert. The buildings were constructed out of sandstone and sometimes even driftwood if it was close to the port itself, or a mixture of the two.

Beyal saw that a few people had paused to look at the _anvar_ as they passed by. For a moment he thought he saw something—someone—that made him go stiff, but the crowds quickly obstructed whoever it was from view.

Irera brought the _anvar_ to a halt outside of a rather large building situated by the sea. "We'll probably take a few minutes," the 1st Division lieutenant said. "In the meantime, go see if Jeredy's at the station yet. It's the third building down on that street. Wavewhisker, I'm actually glad you tagged along. They'll need a cover-up for something…or some_one_, I should say."

Beyal knew she was talking about Jon Ace.

As they were walking, Chase asked, "Hey Wavewhisker, why is Irera so…serious? I mean, she's a year younger than I am!"

"You see, her whole village was massacred by bandits when she was little. She saw her parents get killed right in front of her…so you can't really blame her. She's lucky the Captain-Commander found her, otherwise she wouldn't have survived—she got hurt pretty bad too. Still has the scars."

All that reminded Beyal of was when the Bookman massacred the other monks of Tebab.

Hargeon's train station was actually underground, in order to accommodate all of the trains that came along on the tracks. Pillars supported the ceiling, which was actually the ground floors of some other buildings and roads of the city.

"So which one is it?" Wavewhisker asked, sniffing slightly. Beyal knew why—he was actually a wolf, so of course his sense of smell would be much better than theirs. Then the captain asked, "That one?" while pointing—it was indeed the right train.

Chase beamed, ran up, and put his hand on the scanner-pad, opening the door. "Chase, there you are," Jeredy greeted. He glanced briefly at Beyal, and then gave a puzzled look to Wavewhisker.

"Captain Wavewhisker of the Elementals, at your service," the twelve-year-old said in an overly-flamboyant tone.

"Okay, so how are we gonna get Jon out of here," Chase asked, glancing over.

"One second," Wavewhisker said, running out. He came back wheeling a cart. "I should tell you…all Elemental Guardians have control over an element. Mine is water."

"And?"

"I can manipulate the water particles in the air so they refract the light and make an illusion."

"Theoretically that _could_ work…" Jeredy started, though he sounded dubious. "But I just don't see how that's possible."

A few minutes later, when they were all set to go…

"Incredible!" Jeredy exclaimed, shocked. The cart, which was carrying the tank that Jon was in, now looked like it was simply a bunch of cardboard boxes.

"Yep," Wavewhisker said, looking pleased with himself. "As long as no one touches it, and I don't get _too_ distracted, we'll have no trouble." Of course they still put a canvas over it to be on the safe side, though.

It was just that—no trouble…until they reached the stretch of open land between the city and the water station. It wasn't that someone touched the "boxes"…it was a familiar voice shouting "Freeze!"

Chase mentally groaned. _You have _got _to be _kidding_ me!_ He turned to see some STORM soldiers, an Elite, and—no real surprise, Charlemagne and Trey. It had been the latter who had spoken. "About time you punks showed up," the commander said. "Hand over your dad, and you won't get hurt."

"I think _you're _the ones who're gonna get hurt!" Chase retorted, taking Lock's core out. To his father, he muttered, "Get Irera and Darkshade." Jeredy nodded and ran into the building.

Wavewhisker put an arm in front of him, stopping the teen. "I'll handle this," the 7th Division Captain said, turning to look at the ones from STORM. He gave them a hard look…before saying, "Who the heck are you?" while crossing his arms in a childish manner.

Charlemagne looked a little annoyed. "Stay out of zhis, little boy," she warned.

Chase winced. _Bad move._ Wavewhisker twitched a few times before exclaiming "_Little_?" in an indignant tone. "I'm the 7th Division Captain of the Elementals!" he shouted, reaching for his stock-clip. "And now I shall unleash my Monsuno Tidebreaker on—" He cut himself off, a weird look on his face.

"…you do not have your Monsuno, do you?" Beyal asked.

"Uh…nope." **(Insert anime-style sweatdrop here)**

Chase groaned, facepalming. "Can we forget that happened? Please?" he asked.

In response Driftblade, Riccoshot, and Crossbolt were sent out. Chase immediately spun out Lock, while Beyal spun his new Monsuno out—Scaleblade. Scaleblade looked like a rattlesnake, but she had the head and stripes of a tiger; the stripes were interwoven with rattlesnake diamond patterns, which glew violet.

"Taser Blades!" Charlemagne ordered. Driftblade snarled and began dashing towards Scaleblade.

"Diamond Defense!" Beyal countered—Scaleblade glew a brilliant violet, and as Driftblade's claws slashed at the tigersnake, a piercing sound was heard, reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard, causing all of them to cover their ears.

Charlemagne seemed flustered that Scaleblade was unharmed. Meanwhile, Crossbolt was charging at the tigersnake as well. Beyal acted fast: "Scaleblade, Venofang!"

In response the tigersnake wrapped itself around the boar-armadillo and sank its fangs in. The STORM Monsuno let out a pained shriek.

Lock was combating Riccoshot, pounding it back easily. Chase saw Driftblade going in for an attack, so he shouted, "Inner Shine!"

Both STORM Monsunos attacked, but Lock's barrier deflected them—and then the polar-bear Monsuno shot a beam of energy at them, knocking them backwards.

Before the fight could continue, two violet cores were spun out, hitting a small tree, and there were two flashes of violet light. One of them revealed what looked like a lavender jaguar with a peacock's tail that had intricate designs on it. The other was what looked like a wolf with a lion's mane. It was a shade of purple so dark it looked black, while its mane was a violet color. Both of them growled threateningly at the STORM Monsunos.

"What's going on here?" Irera asked in a cold tone, Darkshade and Jeredy behind her—the latter went stiff when Charlemagne gave him a venomous look.

"They attacked us," Wavewhisker explained, pointing.

Darkshade's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?" he asked.

"We should be the ones asking that," Trey growled.

Charlemagne, on the other hand…well, it took all of Chase's willpower _not_ to laugh. It looked like she was struggling to find words—then she asked, "Who are _you_?"

Darkshade glanced over before saying, "Darkshade, Captain of the 6th Division of the Elementals." He turned to his Monsunos. "Shadowstriker, you know what to do."

"Featherclaw, you too," Irera ordered.

Darkshade's Monsuno vanished in a blur, and suddenly Riccoshot and Crossbolt were struck down, returning to their cores. Meanwhile, Featherclaw had shot a bolt of energy at Driftblade, knocking it over—and then leaped on it, slashing with its claws. Driftblade didn't last too long after that.

Their opponents were quick to retreat afterwards, although Chase noted that Charlemagne glanced back a few times.

Wavewhisker then said cheerily, "Well that was fun!" He immediately earned the universal WTH look from all of them.

* * *

When they returned, they were greeted by Captain Featherbreeze. "You guys took a long time," she said. "And—Wavewhisker, did you sneak along?"

"Yes, he did," Irera growled, giving said captain a glare, which he flinched under. "I'll be telling the Captain-Commander about it."

"_Vémkós_," Wavewhisker muttered.

"In the meantime," Darkshade broke in, "Featherbreeze, could you lead Jeredy here to the 3rd Station, and bring Mr. Ace? I already let Saurian know about the situation. Irera, could you do the same for the Captain-Commander?" To Jeredy, the raven-haired man added, "I think you'll like it at the 3rd Station. It's the R&D Department, after all." Jeredy's eyes lit up in response.

"Tell B I said hi," Chase said after suppressing a yawn. "I'm going back to the 2nd Station—I'm beat."

* * *

Of course it wasn't exactly like that, since he ran into Jinja and Dax on the way. "How'd it go?" the former asked.

"Eh, fine. Except for when STORM showed up."

"Blimey," Dax muttered. "They just never learn. What happened?"

"Well, Wavewhisker looked like a total idiot—"

"I heard about that from Miya," Jinja said.

"—then Darkshade and Irera showed up and took 'em to the cleaners. There's something else, too."

"What?" Dax asked.

"I think _someone_ likes Darkshade." Chase was failing at keeping a grin off of his face at this point.

"Who?" Jinja asked.

"Guess."

"Um…" She froze, realizing.

Dax's mouth twitched. "Don't tell me…Charlemagne?"

"Yup!" At that, they all burst out laughing.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Commandant-Marshal was mulling the events of the day over outside of the base, to get some fresh air. Why had the white-haired rogue-controller had a _purple_ core? She'd never heard about anyone with purple Monsunos.

They'd seen Klipse's red ones and Jeredy's blue ones, as well as those strange orange ones, but never a purple one.

And that teenage girl—she looked fourteen, yet had the air of a soldier who'd seen too much blood in their lifetime. Charlemagne couldn't help but be a little curious about that.

Then there was that black-haired man with the purple eyes. The mere thought made her face heat up slightly, and she shook her head.

He had said that he was the "6th Division Captain" of the "Elementals." Were these so-called Elementals the purple-core users?

* * *

From the top of a nearby building, a woman with grayish-red hair, vermillion eyes, and was wearing a necklace that held a vial with a strange black fire inside smirked before raising a rifle, looking through the scope.

She'd been given such an easy mission—take out the Commandant-Marshal of STORM. Viron had said that they didn't need the government snooping around their stolen things…and that Imari _could not_ get ahold of someone with any sort of precognition abilities. True, the amber-eyed woman's ability had not acted up for a _very long_ time, but usually whenever there was a gap that large, it'd come back in a sudden burst—and that one would be an important one. She aimed for where it'd be a quick death—

But right as Kusai was about to pull the trigger, the black-haired commander came out. The demon-wolf went stiff—she couldn't shoot now, or they'd be on her so fast it'd be ridiculous.

To her dismay, they both went in. _So much for that…_ She took her communicator out. "Bad news," she said. "She went in before I could shoot."

"Of _course_," she heard Viron say on the other end. "Come back to base. I'll handle it myself as soon as the lady goes into the desert…who cares if she has some company? It's been a while since I had blood on my claws anyways."


End file.
